Gasoline tanker crash snarls traffic on Route 24 in Fall River

A tractor trailer that was transporting gasoline rolled over and burst into flames on Route 24 this morning in Fall River, according to the Massachusetts State Police.

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

FALL RIVER — A tractor-trailer carrying 11,000 gallons of gasoline caught fire and exploded after the driver lost control and flipped the truck over Monday morning on a Route 24 northbound exit ramp in Fall River, police said.

Paramedics transported the driver, identified as Lisa M. Korch, 46, of Danielson, Conn., to Rhode Island Hospital to be treated for what were described as non-life-threatening injuries. Witnesses at the scene said Korch complained of shoulder and back pain.

Huge plumes of black smoke billowed over the crash site just after 7:15 a.m. as flames engulfed the tractor-trailer. Police, firefighters and officials from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Clean Harbors, as well as the Department of Transportation, cordoned off the area, causing massive traffic delays.

Public safety personnel lifted the burned and mangled wreckage onto a flatbed truck and removed it from the scene while state environment officials assessed the impact of the fuel spill. Route 24 reopened to traffic by 10 a.m. Monday, and Exit 5 was cleared just after 4 p.m., according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Preliminary reports from the Fall River Fire Department found no signs of gasoline reaching a nearby stream or the residential neighborhoods along Meridian Street. There were no reports of injuries to firefighters, police or any other civilians besides the truck driver.

“If this happened a few streets over on Meridian ... this would have been a different ballgame,” said Fall River Fire Capt. Neil Furtado, who lives in the neighborhood and said he was walking his dog when he heard a loud “eruption” Monday morning. Furtado said he looked in the direction of the explosion and saw a large column of black smoke rising into the air. Furtado immediately responded to the scene.

“There were points on Meridian ... where you couldn’t even see because of the smoke,” Furtado said.

‘I’ve never been that scared before in my life.’

The Massachusetts State Police, which is investigating the crash, did not disclose what may have caused Korch — who is employed by JP Noonan, a West Bridgewater transportation company — to lose control of the tractor-trailer. Witnesses told The Herald News that Korch said she thought she drove over a sharp object in the road just before the crash.

“I didn’t see any (sharp objects), but if that is what it was, then that would explain the loud noise I heard. It was like a pop or a gunshot,” said Amanda Halbardier, a Fall River resident who was driving about 70 feet in front of the tractor-trailer when she heard the loud popping noise. Halbardier, 22, a licensed practical nurse, said she looked back and saw the truck rolling over into the embankment below the ramp.

“I stopped my car and ran down to where the driver was to help her out,” said Halbardier, who assisted two other women and Jesse Gomes, 40, a Westport resident, escort the truck driver to safety.

Gomes, a certified nursing assistant, said he was driving to work when he pulled onto the Exit 5 ramp and saw a “line of fire” off to the left side. He drove toward the embankment and saw the tractor trailer on fire. Gomes said he got out of his car, did not immediately see the driver below and yelled out, “Is anybody there?”

Gomes said he then saw Korch struggling to get out of the mangled truck.

“She was doing anything she could to get out. She was obviously hurt,” Gomes said, adding that he twice asked Korch, “What’s in the tanker?”

“Gas!” Korch screamed, according to Gomes, a father of three, who ran down the hill, grabbed Korch by the shoulder and pulled her out of the burning tractor-trailer.

“I just didn’t think,” Gomes said. “It all just happened so fast. I just reacted. I’ve never been that scared before in my life.”

Gomes, Halbardier and two other women who also got out of their cars to help escorted Korch away from the tractor-trailer. They wrapped her in sweatshirts and a jacket to keep her warm.

At one point, Korch, who was hyperventilating and in apparent shock, collapsed and sat on the ground, but the Good Samaritans walked her into a nearby vehicle and drove a half-mile up the road to get further away from the engulfed tractor-trailer.

“I didn’t want her to faint on me. We wanted to keep her moving,” Gomes said.

“We thought (the tractor-trailer) was going to blow. We had to basically pick her up and get her out of there,” Halbardier said, adding that she heard at least two or three minor explosions as the flames ignited the leaking gas vapors.

“The trees were catching fire and the flames just kept growing,” Halbardier added.

“Gas vapors were shooting out and hitting the trees. The whole truck was just engulfed,” Gomes said. “It was a horror show.”

Gomes and another woman waved down the first responding paramedics as they approached from Route 24 southbound. Meanwhile, Halbardier and another woman assisted Korch inside the vehicle and gave her their cellphones for her to call her daughter and family.

“She was very upset and very anxious,” Halbardier said. “She began to calm down and then the paramedics arrived.”

A total loss

Furtado, the Fall River fire captain, said the tractor-trailer was a “total loss.” He said firefighters decided to let the wreckage burn itself out to consume the gasoline rather than knocking the fire out quickly and risking 11,000 gallons of fuel sinking into the water table or reaching nearby streams.

“We’re so used to going right in there and attacking the fire. It was a tough decision to let it burn and keep your distance,” Furtado said, adding that firefighters used foam to extinguish the last of the flames. Firefighters also positioned themselves to ensure that the fire never reached the residential neighborhoods on Meridian Street, which are more than 200 yards away. Residents were given the option to leave the area.

Five engines, one ladder truck, three ambulances, Heavy Rescue and multiple command vehicles responded from the Fall River Fire Department. Tanker trucks from the Lakeville, Westport, Dartmouth, Tiverton, Rehoboth and Berkley fire departments arrived on scene to provide water since there were no fire hydrants on the highway, Furtado said.

Units capable of deploying 500 gallons of firefighting foam also responded to the scene from New Bedford, Dighton and Somerset, Furtado said.

The fire was brought under control by 9:18 a.m., and it was completely extinguished at 9:50 a.m.

Meanwhile, the Fall River Fire and Water departments placed protective constraint booms on a brook near the intersection of Meridian and Old Meridian streets. Furtado said officials did not see any oil sheens in the water.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by Troop D of the Massachusetts State Police with the assistance of the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section, the State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Section, and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.

[View the story "Pictures of the tractor trailer fire in Fall River" on Storify]